Tagzone
by Power-of-zexy-love
Summary: A story that pertains to no series ever written before, of my own creation. Thought I'd post it, see what you think. ColinxDrake. Review Please
1. Chapter 1

I stepped out of the back room and into the store.

"Another boring day at Hot topic store 12 of 30 in area 251..."

(that's store twelve in area 251 in the western united states, yes, I bothered to remember)

Taking my usual place behind the resistor, I plugged my earphones in, and turned on my music. It helped pass the time as well as mute the horrid music the store played. How anyone could like to hear women scream about getting dirty, and losing their souls and such, or men bleeding their guts out and going to heaven for the woman they loved, I didn't know. I listened to a few of the less bloody songs, but most of the time is was industrial, or alternate style bands playing in my ears, and the smooth voice of another popular guy whispering words of love into my ear. And heck, through all the parents and immature or even scary people I had to deal with, the job was worth it. It kept me in the money, and therefore, I could afford living on my own. I was an orphan, but I had time to finish school, and pay for my housing(with a little help from my parents, and the government). I had graduated from high school and was supposed to start my first college classes in about a week, and I wasn't looking forward to them. Life was gonna be hell….get up at 6, come to work and work for 4 hours, go to school for 5 hours, and that puts me at 3. 3 hours of homework, and then I was back at work, for another 4 to 6 hours. Then, I would go home, fall asleep on the dorm room couch and start all over again the next morning. The good side though, was now that I was going to college, I was leaving my old apartment behind and living in the college dorm, which meant I wouldn't have to pay for transportation back and forth. Also the fact that I was a student at the college meant that the price for the rent was less then it had been for the apartment.

It had been an average day so far after the first two hours of work, and the music on the player had finally looped about three minutes ago. I had had at least fifteen people ask me if the store had something, and then point to an area almost right in front of their faces. A rack with a list of all the products we sold. Easy, right? Yep. Unless they don't know what any of the form meant. If that was the case though, I'd usually pass them off to one of the aids walking round the store. If the customer was cute, or good looking(which was hard to find in a crowd of emos and Goths) I would show them myself and try and spark a short conversation. Usually, the emos were to quiet and emo to talk, and all the Goths wanted to talk about was how cool and dark the merchandise was. The one that stood out that day was a boy I had sworn I'd seen before. I remembered seeing someone like him in the shop, but with all the emos buying the same stuff, they pretty much looked the same. He, on the other hand was a little easier to pick out as a "power", though most of the people at the store were the actual posers. He wore a plain black jacket with a logo done in graffiti style across the front, that formed the words "tag zone", and black jeans, not tight, and not to loose. Other then that, he had a messenger bag with a white skull on the front, and a metal necklace with a silver decoration hanging from it, that took somewhat of a globe shape. He also wore a medical patch that covered his right eye. Now, I would have bet my skateboard that I'd seen him outside the store, but being a skater, I wasn't willing to risk my board no matter how sure I was. I had put at least four hundred dollars into that board, and custom painted the bottom, since it started out completely blank.

He spent about an hour looking at the t-shirts, wrist bands, and other logo-ed products before pulling out a few shirts and comparing them to the ones he pulled out of his bag. It was interesting to watch, because every time he seemed to find something he liked, he would make a small sketch of something in a art book….and then put the shirt back on the shelves. When I though he had left, since I couldn't see him any more,(im not a creepy stalker, I just glanced to watch him when there wasn't a wanting customer) he popped up at the counter holding a black wallet with white trimmings, no patterns whatsoever. When I told him the price, he slid out a wallet that looked surprisingly like the wallet he was purchasing, except much more beat up and much fancier. On it was a design I had never seen before, but it also had in very small letters the works tag zone written on the white lining.

"Isn't this the same wallet?" I asked him questioningly

He looked up for a moment, and when his eyes caught mine, he turned a little red and looked down again so his hair covered a lot of his face. He nodded and then continued to hold out the money, offering no explanation about the transformation his wallet had taken.

I made the exchange, and handed him the product in the bag, and watched as he left the store, looking to be in quite a hurry to leave. I thought I might have actually scared him.

I left work around 6, and started my way home. On the way though, I stopped by the park and dropped my bag to the ground next to the wall. I stayed and practiced tricks till it became dark, and then got to work. Taking out a can from my bag, popped the cap and began spraying. Spray paint. It just happens to be another one of my hobbies. My apartment walls are covered in my designs. The new one I was decorating the wall with was of a white skull, surrounded by a dark red background, with my artists name written underneath. A bout halfway through, I heard a cough from behind me and felt a tap on the shoulder.

"Shit," I thought to myself "busted but the breaking cops a week before college starts…this will look just great.."

I turned around to find a cop, but what I found I couldn't really see. It was a boy, just a bit shorter then me, but dressed entirely in black and his face was covered in shadow.

"I was just going to tell you that you messed up a bit," he said in a rather sarcastic voice "on the entire thing."

"thanks." I muttered back "if I messed up so much, show me where."

He then proceeded to point out at least ten or eleven mistakes that after seeing, I couldn't figure out how I hadn't noticed myself.

He looked back up at the art though and stared at it before he spoke again.

"Still," he muttered, "Its pretty good for someone who's only been doing this for about a month."

I looked at him star struck. I had started just a little while ago, but I only had started painting on the street in the past three weeks. It had taken weeks just to get the courage to paint actual art, on the walls or on the streets, or anywhere else for that matter. And he had guessed perfectly.

He made a few more comments, then put his hand to his face, and pushed something over to the right side of his face. A medical bandage. He was wearing it over his left eye before hand. He then proceeded to kiss me on the lips and disappear into the shadows.

Wait…..

"He kissed me!" I taught to myself. "He kissed some guy he didn't even know!"

I though I knew who it was before he kissed me, but afterwards, I completely tossed the idea. I thought it had been the emo boy I had seen earlier at the store that day, but he had some major differences. His attitude had taken a complete 180 and he had become dark and strong spoken, where as the boy had been soft spoken and happish. And he also had no show of emotion. The boy had been completely emotional and shy, so I was able to see no connection between the two, other then they both wore black and they both wore a medical eye patch. And something I noticed before he turned away. He had the same kind of jacket. A black hood with the words Tagzone painted on the front.

-Next Morning-

I woke up late the next morning, and found a message few messages on the answering machine. One was from my mother, wishing me well, and saying that she would send more money to me as soon as she got another job. The other two were of less importance. My school had left a digitally recorded message, reminding the students about the first day of school and the first day we could move into the dorm, which was tomorrow. The last message was from my boss, giving me the week off to get into school, though he promised he would still pay me for the hours I had signed up for, since he understood my circumstances.

I eat a small breakfast, made of whatever was in the fridge, and sat down in front of my computer, and started up the Internet browser. Googles search page popped up and I began to type. I spent the next hour and a half logging all the references to the words Tagzone and the unknown artist. Why? I remembered the previous night about the first graffiti art I had seen. It had been on my locker, two years ago. Other then the random references to "Tagzone" sites(places for graffiti artists to host their art), I found a few pictures and a page or two with articles by other artists about the art. In the actual ring, in the better artists, he was one of the best. "His art was incredibly detailed," one article stated, "has the ability to go pro and sell his designs, but he never seemed to have that in mind. His art started showing up at a local high school, and has since expanded to street art and a single web page that hosts pictures of his art, but has no constant address, since all the pictures seem to come from different computers and false accounts, it is impossible to trace him. He has many fans, some that start painting because of him, but he is still very unknown due to his quiet nature."

The end of the article had a link to a simple web page,

It was a black page, with a simple title, "TagZone-Fun till you get caught". Everything else was pictures labeled with a number and a date, number being the number of the painting out of all the street graffiti he did, and the date, simply the day he did it. The first picture surprised me. It was a red locker, from my school. Namely, my locker. I knew because the stupid stickers I loved then were plastered all over the locker(I had been given hell by the principle for it, but it had been worth it). It was simply labeled, First and only. From the looks of it, it was like who ever it was had labeled me as their own. Or at least that the locker was theirs. Or maybe that it was their territory. If my first theory that he marked me as his property was correct, I could assume that he had known me since before two years ago. And it also made sense that if the boy who I had run into last night was the artist, it meant that he had just marked me again. Not with paint, but with an invisible mark. Isn't it great to know that you've had a stalker for at least two years and you had absolutely no clue? But what didn't make sense was the fact that the boy I had met was absolutely straight forward. If he was the same person, why hadn't he ever bothered to confront me two years ago, or sometime between then and now?(though I guess last night kind of counted)

Maybe it was because it was a homosexual crush…I spent the rest of the pay pondering this, and cleaning up, packing the little clothes I had, as well as the things I owned. All non clothes(ie-my laptop, CD player, five CD's, and my five cans of spray paint, plus a binder or two) fit into my back pack, and I strapped my skate board to that. The clothes fit into a single duffle bag, and I spent about an hour finding all the change and one dollar bills I had left all over the house in the past two years(which came out to be around 100 dollars, cause I found an old envelope containing a cash payment from my father for my birthday, that I hadn't entirely used. I eat what remained in the fridge, and fell asleep exhausted EARLY for the first time in months. Besides, it wasn't that bad, I had my college experience starting tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

I skated to school next morning after paying the land lady, with my two bags, one on my back, and my backpack, surprisingly, inside that bag. I checked in, got a double set of keys from the lady at the administration desk, and found my room in the many floors of the dorm house. When I walked in, I was expecting to find a lot of bags and junk, already strewn around the floor, and people already in the room. Because that's what college is like, right? What I found though was a clean and empty room, accept for a backpack on one of the desk chairs, and two black duffle bags, much like my own on one bed, and no roommate. Figuring we could introduce ourselves later, and that he would probably show up later, I checked my stuff on the empty desk and fell face down asleep on the bed.

I woke up a few hours later to the click of the lock, and the opening of the door.

"Damn..", I though to myself, "why couldn't he come back later? I needed more sleep…"

Whoever it was obviously didn't know it was still daytime, because he was getting undressed, and then slipped into bed.

The bed I was in.

He succeeded in figuring this out a few seconds later when he rolled over and found himself face to face with me.(I would have said something, but I hadn't had time, and I was still a little shocked)

"Sorry!" he sweeked out

And then he proceeded to try and get up, got tangled in the blanket, and fell onto the floor. I couldn't help myself. I burst out laughing. College was gonna be interesting. First day, I've already got someone in my bed after 18 years of virginity.(who cares if it was a guy. I never said that I got it on with him)

I was shocked even more when I helped him up to find out that he was the exact same boy I had seen at the store just yesterday.(now, his being naked didn't really help) It was the eye patch that gave it away.

And then I had time to look at his body for a few seconds before he squeaked again and hid his body in the blankets.

His body was covered in scars and bruises as well as fresh cuts and scrapes. None on his wrists though. Wasn't that the emo thing to do?

To avoid the quiet, I reached out my hand, offering to shake his, and after a few seconds, he took it with a loose grip.

"I'm Drake." I said introducing myself

"Colin," he said very quietly

I nodded, then inquired further.

"So Colin, why where you going to bed so early?"

He looked at me rather confused, the pointed to the clock I hadn't noticed. It read around 11:25. No, not AM, but PM. I hadn't slept for a few hours, I had slept almost twelve hours. And I wasn't about to go back to sleep. So, I continued asking questions.

"Why are you going to bed so early? Your in college now, shouldn't you be going to bed, like, past midnight?"

All I got was a slight shrug of the shoulders, and a short little "tired".

So much for the first day. After he fell asleep, I spent some time unpacking the little stuff I had, put the cloths in the drawers, and took my skateboard as well as a bottle of paint out for a spin if I found any clean walls to paint on. I found one wall that would have been perfect if I had brought more paint. It was huge. And what could I say, the side of the white dorm wall could use some paint and color.

I went back into the room after about an hour of messing around on the campus and finding good spots for skating. Best of all, there was a skate park just down the street, as well as a few clubs, and some interesting restaurants. Colin was laying facing the wall, but I could see the hole of his back as well as a decent amount of his ass. If he was a girl, I would probably would have screwed up and instead of asking his name, the first thing I would have asked for was a date. He was skinny, but not unhealthy, and he had a very curved build(no, he didn't have breasts, to bad straight boys-all the straight boys "awe…..")

And he had a very tight ass. I couldn't help but notice, it was sticking out rather boldly. It was almost as tight as some of the girls I knew in high school and lusted over. But he was a guy, so that was that.

I woke up the next morning to the smell of chocolate and paint. As well as some burning britches. Colin was up, hair pulled back, and instead of shy and quiet, he looked completely pissed. When I rolled over and looked at what he was doing, I saw the hole in his bag he was fingering. I watched him with surprise as he pulled out a couple things from his bag. The first was black thread and a needle, the second was a patch with the word(you guessed it) tag zone painted on. And for the next five or so minutes, he worked quietly, all the while swearing under his breath.

He looked happy though when he finished, and pushed the eye patch to the other eye. Even though neither was injured whatsoever. Must have been a rather flawed fashion statement.

"Nice," I said as I finally climbed out of bed, "How'd it get a hole in the first place?"

He looked up, and then quickly looked back down again, and pointed to a device on the counter. It was a hot water maker. And from what I could see, the water had gotten to hot, and when it got knocked over, though the water hadn't done and harm, the heater had melted a hole into the bag.

He refused to say or even look at me till I had gotten dressed, and asked him more questions. It was like he was a totally different person from the pissed boy he had been a few minutes ago. Or maybe it was because he though I had still been asleep.

I looked over all the things that had been tossed out on his side of the room. A few posters, and some type of computer, each with the works Tagzone encrypted onto the side of it.

"So," I tried starting off, "how'd you get all this stuff? You know the maker?"

He nodded, not saying anything, and sat down on the far end of his bed, in the opposite corner of the room.

"But I read an article that no one knows who he was? How come you never said anything?"

"He liked his privacy," Colin replied, "he's known me for a while, and trusts me to keep his secret, and also likes to show off now and then. So he puts designs on stuff that I give him to work with."

I reeled back, and laughed.

"He said more then a three word sentence! Call the media!"

I got a pillow in the face.(note to self, don't ever get in a pillow fight or anything else that involves flying objects. This kids got incredible aim. And I have horrid aim.)

I looked over to his desk, and saw that it was covered in supplies. Spray paint, airbrush paint, an airbrush, compressor, and a lot more.

"You paint to?" I asked him

"Only a little bit," he replied, "the painter that did Tagzone was my inspiration to start."

I though about what he said, and then continued.

"Interesting…I started because of him to I guess. I started to like Graffiti art after I saw the art he did on my locker. He ever tell you about that? He put his logo two years ago on my locker."

Colin nodded, and was quiet for a moment.

"Also," he said, "He also told me that you where his inspiration for starting Graffiti art."

I was shocked at his statement.

"Me?" I stared dumbly at the wall. "Why me?"

"Your rebels attitude. He took what he saw you do, and put it into art."

By the first break, we had gotten closer as friends and roommates, doing stuff that normal roommates would do, except for he never hung with friends, and he was always up very early. Also, while I was out at midnight during the first quarter before break, I ran into the creator of Tagzone, and found myself falling for him. I was falling for a boy I knew nothing about, and all that I knew was the little he told me, and what Colin said about him. I felt like I knew him a lot better then I thought I did though. What it felt like was I knew him really well. He reminded me of the boy that came out whenever something went wrong for Colin. And whenever he was angry, he always wore the eye patch on the opposite to normal, almost like a warning. But I also felt myself attracted to Colin as more then just a friend. I never told him though. He was as quiet enough as it was, and I didn't want to scare him into his previous state, since he finally had opened up to me.

When break came around, he asked if I was going home, and I simply told him that I had some work that needed to be done over the break. I actually did have homework, and my grades where suffering a little,(I am a skater after all, low IQ people) I just didn't want to tell him about my past. I had hid it rather well so far. He left the first day happy and smiling, and for the next few days, it was rather lonely in the room. I didn't understand why though. I had lived for 18 years without family, nor any real friends, so I decided that it was because he was like a brother to me. I spent most of my time actually doing homework and skateboarding with some guys I had met up with during one of my trips to the skate park. On the last day of break, I ended up staying out til about 9 o'clock, and went back to the dorm to find the tag for his name registered as in. Which meant I could sneak up on him when I got back into the room and scare him. Of course, it would result in the usual pillow fight, which I had come to enjoy, even though I usually got pummeled. When I got to the room, I slid in quietly and snuck up behind his form, curled up into a ball.

"Ha! A nap!" I though to myself, "even better!"

And then I noticed it. He wasn't napping, he was crying. Quietly, but he was certainly crying.

"You okay?" I said quietly, putting a hand on his shoulder

He didn't look at me for a moment, then turned around, as if I was crazy and he was fine, and hadn't been crying at all.

"I'm Fine."

I could tell he wasn't fine though. His eyes were puffed up, and there were fresh scratches on his face, as well as what looked like finger marks on his neck, like someone had tried to choke him.

"What the hell happened!" I asked him, "you were perfectly fine before you left."

"Nothing happened." he retaliated

"Uhu.."

I don't know what made me do it, but I hated seeing him like this. I didn't like seeing him like this. It was nothing like the usual happy him.

Not knowing what I was doing, I climbed up onto the bed and sat a little behind him, back to the wall, and put my wrist on his waist, and pulled a little.

"come here" I said, not knowing what to say

He did, and without any hassle, he let me pull him into my lap, and then proceeded to let me(I could swear to got that I had no clue why I was doing this) put my arms around him and hold him tightly and close to me. And all he did was put his hands on mine, and let me put my chin on his shoulder.

After ten or so minutes had pasted, I asked again, quieter but stronger.

"what happened." I asked

This time, it seemed like he gave no resistance since he was in my arms, or he simply couldn't. It all came spilling out. His entire past to present. His father had left his mother after he had been born, and ever since, his mother had had a hard time finding another man to love. Every time that she did, the same question came up. "have any kids?" Every time she said yes, the men would always break up the next time they were together, with different excuses, and every time, she would beat him, and blame him for being there, and making it impossible for her to get married again. But recently, it had been getting worse. His mother had started drinking and smoking, making her even more unstable, and during the break, she had gotten dumped again, for no reason whatsoever and snapped, almost killing him when she started choking him.

By the end of his tale, he was crying, and I was wiping his tears away, and holding him tighter.

"I guess," I said quietly, "living alone isn't that bad…."

He turned and looked at me questioningly

"Alone?" he said quietly, "since when?"

I then when on to telling him MY entire life story.

That I had been born to a teenage girl, and a older man that had raped her. The girl had tried to raise me, but she ended up killing herself, saying that it brought her down to much to keep living. I was given to an orphanage, and passed along because of my rebellious ways, until I was 13, and I had gotten into a home where my father sexually abused me. After the first night there, I had begged to be declared legally responsible for my own welfare, and that I would be allowed to live alone, away from some foster home. How I had spent the next two months living in the same house while my request was reviewed. It had gotten to the point when I had almost tried to kill myself like my mother so that I wouldn't have to deal with my foster father and his abuse.

When I finished, I looked back at him and found him crying. Not for himself, I realized, but for me. And then he did something I never would have expected from him. He kissed me on the lips. Not much but just enough. And I felt all the fear and pain I had brought out of its hiding get blown away. Not just buried again, but completely removed from me. So I did the only thing that seemed right. I held him tight and kissed him back. And then I realized. All the things he had been telling me, all the things I had been feeling between the unknown be that I had fallen for and Colin, they were one and the same. Without knowing it, I had fallen in love with a boy that I had known for less then two months. And then I realized another thing. Even though the two kisses where different in the force they had been given, they were the same kiss. The same person.

An article popped up into my mind in the next few moments. It had been given to us in one of my medical classes and was on the creation and effect of split personality disorders. It had said that spilt personalities where sometimes developed to protect a person from pain or suffering. His mother. He had created another person in his mind that stood the pain his mother gave to him, and was also much more rebellious. He was the one that did all the tag arts. And when Colin said he knew him, he was telling the truth. He only knew him. There were two Colins in th body I held, both that he loved dearly. But what didn't make sense was the trigger. The change required a trigger. And then the trigger was looking at me. On one eye rested the eye patch. Whenever he had seemed to change personalities, he had always pushed the eye patch to a different side.

"what are you thinking about?" he said looking at me, while a smile on his face, "our future?"

"our future? Who said we had a future?" I said jokingly

He pouted at me

"you wouldn't have kissed me back if you didn't have feelings for me"

"yeah I know, I was thinking about you lying to me."

"I never lied to you"

"yes, yes you did. You never mentioned your split personalities, nor did you mention that you've been watching me for two years, AND that you've kissed me before"

"and how'd you figure out that?"

He didn't look mad at all. He was actually smiling the biggest smile id ever seen him wear

"these past two months, and the two kisses"

"okay, and seriously, what do you think will happen in the future?"

I pretended to think for a moment, knowing that whatever it was, we had left our pasts behind us and were moving on.

"I don't know, if I even try to think about it, im gonna overload this cheap skater boy brain of mine. And you wouldn't want that would you?"

"says the man taking the degree in medicines…"

"so?"

"so nothing."

He looked up, and he smiled at me again, took my hands, and kissed me as we laid down onto the bed together. We stayed sleeping together for the rest of college,(except for when I didn't finish my homework, but I usually would sneak in after he fell asleep) and we both knew that we would stay entwined in bed and in love for the rest of our lives together.


	3. Chapter 3

Entry #2

I have decided to continue writing the events that befall Colin and I, since I can start fresh, just like I am in school. Christmas break is over, and the second semester has begun. But I wont be starting right at the beginning of the semester. I am going to start writing what happened, beginning a few days before Christmas break started but not from my point of view….

"It so cold!" A black hair boy complained

"Your fault for not wearing something warmer," his companion said, pulling the other closer in his embrace.

The two boys were walking down one of the main streets, looking at the shops and stores, and pondering the up coming break. There were presents to buy for friends, family, and of course, for the other.

"The black haired boy continued pulling the other down the street, till he found a shop that he liked the look of.

"Hey, Drake," he said looking at the other boy, " Wanna go in there for a bit?"

The other boy smiled and nodded, and then commented shortly,

"But as seeing you dragged me out here in the first place, I don't see the point of my opinion."

Colin looked at him, pouting.

"But Drake, your having fun right?"

Drake snickered and kissed him on the cheek

"I must say that I enjoyed your little "Strip Tease" back there."

Colin flushed.

"That wasn't a strip tease! You put a snowball down my shirt!"

Drake couldn't help but snicker again at the thought. He HAD put a snowball down Colin's shirt, but he hadn't expected him to strip off his jacket and shirt to get rid of the snow. And Colin's reaction to what he had just done was incredibly cute.

"Okay, whatever you say." He said as the two of them walked into the store

The inside of the store was filled with candy(something that both had been craving since Halloween supplies ran out-they had gone around as salesmen, offering absolutely nothing, which many of the "customers" appreciated, and had filled about two pillowcases with candy). That had run out before thanksgiving, with the stomachs that college possessed. The few friends that they had were aghast when they came back from trick or treating, because by their standards, a boy stopped tricker-treating the moment high school began. Feeling sorry about their lack of sugary goodness, they gave away about half of the candy they had collected. They then proceeded to eat the rest.

Most of the candy in the store was normal, such as chocolates and sweets and such, but at a closer look, each "normal" candy was very different. They were wrapped in normal wrappings, but displayed as what they held in side. A few to mention that were the most interesting(especially for the giver, for it was trick candy) followed. There were chocolate frogs, from the harry potter series, as well as a alcoholic drink called "fireywissbang", which was laced with jalapanio juices, as well as chocolates with the same lacing. Another was a small chocolate called "love drops". When they inquired at the front desk, they found that it was actually a simple chocolate with a cherry inside, but instead of the flavored fluid inside, there was a shots worth of vodka. The most interesting though was a rack that at first glance held thick candy canes in a bowl, that looked like a candle or something. When pulled out though, they were rapier, made entirely from candy cane and chocolate detailing. Written in little letters as a joke on the handles were the quote, "for the armature sword swallower".

They left the store after thoroughly looking at the candies, with a bag of assorted pieces to try, and some of the eviler candies as gifts for their friends. Unknown to Colin though, Drake had gotten another, very special gift for him at the store. They stopped at a few more stores, picking up something here and there, and eventually, were left, only looking for gifts for the family. Which shouldn't have been to hard. Drakes parents had abandoned him when he was little, and Colin's mother had broken up with her must recent husband, and committed suicide, so all that remained was one gift. A gift for Colin's father, since Colin and Drake were both going to be staying at his house during the break, since the college was kicking them out and there wasn't anywhere else to go. As well as the fact that since they were out at school, they figured it was time to come out to the family, what little remained.

Yet they found themselves sitting outside a cafe, mentally banging their heads on the table. They hadn't found anything in the twenty or thirty stores they entered.

Drake slumped back in his chair again.

"remind me what your father likes again?" He asked?

"Almost nothing" was the response

"Have the slightest clue what we might find for a business enthusiast?"

"None…..where haven't we looked?" Colin asked as he looked back at the outdoor malls map.

Drake studied it for a moment and pointed at the one store they hadn't been to. It was a bookstore, with most of the products aimed at the college students, as well as a small selection on manga, dvds, and CD's.

"Were probably not gonna find anything there for him…but we might as well try.."

They got up and walked over to the store, and entered. It was rather full that day, and books were left on the tables, stuck out of shelves and on top as well. After about a hour of looking, they had almost checked the entire store, and had gotten a few more gifts. Then it showed itself. It was a mid sized book, yellow, and had a clasp that looked like it wrapped around the book, as well as the fact that it looked exactly like caution tape. They had found it sticking ever so slightly out of the shelves, and decided that it was the "perfect" gift for Colin's father.

They were snickering as they left the store.

"He's really gonna like this." Colin said as he looked at the cover again.

"yeah, and if he doesn't, should we get ready to run for our lives?"

Colin gave him a look, then pushed him in mock anger

"you wont have to run, but you will now. Im freezing, and there's no way that you can beat me back to the heat."

Drake caught his eye, nodded and started running. They raced each other back to the dorm rooms, and when they got there, fell asleep, after packing their bags and wrapping the gifts.

The next morning, they departed, tossing the gifts at their recipients, with threats to skewer them if they opened them before Christmas, and caught the ones that they received.

They took a bus to the outskirts of the city, and hopped on another one, heading towards its last stop, about a half a day away, in Tahoe. They watched the scenery roll by, and talked about plans that they could employ during the break, napped, and woke up about a half hour before the final stop. Out the window, they could see the lake, and the snow covered mountains that surrounded it. Colin rang his father when they got to the drop off point.

"He said he'd be here in a few minutes," Colin said as he walked back to the bench, sitting down. Drake looking onto his boyfriend for a moment. It lacked the bruises and little cuts, which had healed over, and it also lacked the eye-patch that controlled his personality's. He had been able to convince to remove it, and since then, the two personalities had fused back into one. He also wore colors other then black now. A pleasant but not as important change. He looked good in whatever he wore.

He put his hand under Colin's chin, and brought his lips to his, feeling the warmth that flowed through them. They kisses for a few moments, and they pulled back, knowing that Colin's father would be arriving soon. He pulled up a few minutes later and popped the back of the car over, so that the boys could put their bags in.

He was quiet for most of the way back, except for the hello he gave, and the handshakes he gave.

"My home isn't much," Colin said quietly as they pulled up into the driveway, "but…"

Drake interrupted him with a gasp.

The house was huge(or maybe just for Drake, who for his whole life lived in an apartment). It was two stories, and from the front, eight windows were visible. Two cars now sat in the drive way, and the front yard was completely covered in snow.

"Wow"

That was all Drake said. He just stared at the house as Colin lead him in. Tossing off their shoes, they walked into the living room, complete with a large tree, ornaments, and a huge t.v. and two couches. The TV had been left on, or so Drake though. Colin on the other hand turned to his father.

"You left him at home again?" He said

His father simply nodded, and left up the stairs.

"Incoming for landing!" an unknown voice hollered out

"Wait!" was all Colin got out of his mouth before Drake felt a rather heavy weight fell on his back, and arms wrapped around his neck and legs wrapped around his chest. Not knowing what was going on, he simply stood there.

The same voice that he had heard a moment ago rang out again, this time right next to his ear.

"awwww…..he didn't fall down…."

Drake snickered and suddenly knew what was going on. Someone had jumped on his back.

"Is there anyone on my back?" he asked knowingly

No response came from the voice

"So it would be fine if I sat down?" he asked Colin

Colin had a very slight smirk on his face, but he nodded all the same.

Drake walked over to the couch and was about to sit down when the voice popped up again.

"Wait!"

Drake looked around, pretending to be confused.

"I though no one was on my back."

He felt the weight fall from his back, and watched as the boy walked to the couch and sat down again in front of the screen. He sat down on the couch after a few seconds.

"there must have been nobody on my back." he said

He turned to the boy next to him and started to talk again

"Is this house haunted or something? I heard this voice talking to me. Did you hear it?"

The boy next to him, staring down and shook his head. He was about to burst out laughing.

The silence was broken by laughter though when Colin came up and started tickling the boy. After a few minutes, he sat down on Drake's lap.

"I'd like to introduce you to my little brother, Bobby." He said to Drake

Drake patted the boys head

"Nice to meet you Bobby," he said "my names Drake."

Bobby turned and looked at him with a rather scared look in his eyes.

"You're a dragon?" he said

Drake snickered, "Yes, im a dragon. A very small dragon." he said sticking his tongue out like a dragon might

Bobby laughed again.


End file.
